Hellraiser – A First Timer’s Review

For those of you who listened to Episode 023: Hellraiser Podcast Crossover | Occupy Midian you know that I hadn’t watched Hellraiser yet and am still new to the world of Clive Barker (and what a wonderful world it is turning out to be, I am discovering new delights and horrors around every corner.)

I have been anticipating being able to watch Hellraiser. I have wanted to watch it on several occasions, but I wanted to be able to sit down and enjoy it on a day when I knew that I wouldn’t have any interruptions.

Finally, this past weekend I had the chance to sit down and watch this film, several months after I finished reading The Hellbound Heart. With such a long amount of time stretching between the reading of the novella and seeing the film, it was hard for me to remember and compare every single nuance of the book to the movie, but some of the stronger points from the book did still stand out in my memory when compared to the events that took place in Hellraiser.

(There may be some spoilers ahead).

In the case of Hellraiser, I was quite surprised that I enjoyed the movie a little more than the book. But just very slightly. There are still some points that were done better in the book, and in my opinion there always will be when it comes to Clive Barker’s work as he has a way with words that very few writers do.

As far as the film went I felt that Frank was portrayed in a way that I expected him to be, he came across as cruel and manipulative in the film as he was in the novella.

The effects in this film were phenomenal, especially when you take into consideration other movies from that era. The way that Clive Barker’s twisted imagery was made to come to life on the screen was both delightful and horrifying.

I feel that having Kirsty be the daughter brought you into the movie more, for me there was more of a connection with her character and I felt that there was more of a valid reason for her to be present within the story than there was in the novella. I feel that there should have been a little bit more done with the background of Steve, he didn’t really have a sound role in the story in my eyes and his lack of concern at the events that are unfolding around him at the end was a bit unnerving.

The end of the film went quickly, I enjoyed the tension that was built as Kirsty was fighting with Lemarchand’s box in order to banish the cenobites. But the ending to me was a bit of a disappointment, I was hoping for the Engineer to appear and entrust the box to the care of Kirsty until the next seeker of it’s “pleasures” sought her out. I feel that the ending was a let down to me since I had expected a completely different one, one that would extend Kirsty’s terror and make the viewer wonder what happens next.